by Darrell Waltrip

Around the track

Follow the action:

• Michigan schedule
• Michigan practices

Watch:

• Video Central

Picture perfect:

• Action at Watkins Glen

Read all about it:

• Dale Jr: Changes needed in NASCAR
• Vickers edges Martin for Cup pole

Analysis:

• White: Chasers feel the heat
• Spencer: Drivers to watch at Michigan

I have never seen emotions running so high and races filled with the unknowns, the unexpected and drama. It all started Friday night with Denny Hamlin winning the pole for the Cup race. That was a big deal for him because he had said going in that running Richmond was like his Daytona 500 to him. That's how important he thought Richmond was since he literally grew up just down the road from the race track.

Then that Nationwide race Friday night was crazy, too. Kyle Busch had a terrible race car and it wouldn't handle for anything. He got a lap down but he and his team kept working on it all night. Lo and behold he got his lap back and then was a factor by the end of the night.

That's what I love about the Nationwide Series. You not only have to have good equipment, but you have to have a sharp crew chief who knows the right time to do things. Tire strategy was huge. Just ask Kevin Harvick. He was having a great night in a dominating car that was the one to beat. He decided to stay out on the last caution and a bunch of others decided to come in to the pits for fresh tires and fuel. Fresh tires made the difference and Denny ended up beating Harvick and capturing the win.

So Friday he won a pole for the Cup race and then he went out and won the Nationwide race. He was so pumped. What obviously was a preview of things to come, Kyle Busch and Steven Wallace had some words after the Nationwide race. I complimented Kyle for not using his race car for retaliation. They should never use the cars for retaliation. It's just wrong to do that plus it's dangerous.

So going down and getting in someone's face, well I am ok with that. That's the way we used to do it. That is the kind of emotion we used to show. If two drivers want to get into a little scuffle after a race, that's fine with me — have at it but not with your race cars because it's the crews that end up suffering because they are the ones that have to fix them.

Saturday night the race starts and Denny Hamlin was in another area code. No one could come close to him all night long and everything was flawless. He led every lap but one. Denny, his crew chief Mike Ford and the FedEx pit crew were executing to perfection. I kept expecting something to happen to hurt them either in the pits or on the track but Denny drove like a master and the pit crew was flawless.

Larry McReynolds and I have been doing this our whole lives and we worse-case scenario'd that thing to death. But that's what we do. We don't have the luxury of instant replay so we have to call it as we see it and how we anticipate it could be. We kind of have a feel for what's going to happen and we share that with you as things go along. Some pan out, but others don't.

I know you are sick of hearing us say "it isn't over until it's over," but it's just so true. Kevin Harvick had the Friday night race won, but all of a sudden circumstances change and he doesn't win. Denny Hamlin on Saturday night, well there is no way they are going to lose that race unless they beat themselves. That was the fear Larry and I were having.

But then on a restart he felt like he had a tire going soft. You don't want to over-react because maybe it's not going down. You don't want to pit only to find out later it was simply buildup on the tire, so you stay on the track. I know exactly what was going thru that young man's mind. Unfortunately, in this case, that is exactly what was happening and you go into shock.

You can't believe that you have had a car all night that dominates, and now the race is slipping away from you. A slow leak cost him that race. He stayed on the track, but it finally got to a point where he had no choice. He was in the worse place to be when the tire blew out — just past pit road entrance.

Whether he stopped on the track intentionally or whether he stopped because he didn't want the blown tire to tear off the fender — I am just not sure what he was thinking. Obviously NASCAR thought he did it intentionally and held him for a two lap penalty in the pits. So his night was all but over.

That set up the most interesting situation that you could have. Now you have Dale Earnhardt Jr. with the lead and Kyle Busch right there too. Denny didn't stop on the track to help Kyle — Denny stopped on the track to get a caution to get his tire changed.

We knew that Kyle was going to make a run at Junior on the re-start because he had done the same thing to Denny earlier in the race. We knew it could get real intense and it did. With two laps to go, Junior changes his line a little bit and starts running a little higher in the turns because he knows Kyle is right there and he has to try and do something to get away from him.

Kyle's car was better on the short runs, while Dale's was better on the long runs. But guess what folks? This wasn't a long run. This was a four- to five-lap shootout here. So with two laps to go Dale comes off Turn 2 and Kyle gets a run along side of the No. 88. They drag race down the backstretch with no contact. Dale tries to keep Kyle pinned down but Kyle gets a little loose. Kyle gets into Dale and the No. 88 goes into the outside wall and it doesn't help Kyle a bit. He was running in 2nd spot when it happened and Clint Bowyer slipped by on the inside. So Clint wins the race. Kyle finishes second and Dale Jr. is wrecked.

The only problem that Kyle has right now is that he needs a good PR person telling him what to say. It's not his driving that is making so many enemies, it's his interview skills that are killing him. They are terrible. I am going to talk to him this weekend in Darlington and see if I can explain to him how to handle himself in front of the media.

If he could just learn to do a better post-race interview and not get himself in so much trouble, he will be fine. He is alienating so many people and making a lot of enemies AFTER the race, not so much during the race. I think the young man needs to keep driving like he's driving but work on his PR skills. I believe people will have a lot more respect for him if he would do that because he is doing a great job behind the wheel.

Oh, by the way

I thought it was a good night for Jeff Gordon who had a terrible race car. He qualified poorly and had to start in the rear because of an unapproved adjustment on the car. He got lapped, but he and his team didn't panic and they continued to make the car better as the night went along. By the end of the night, Jeff was running in the top 10. That was a great recovery for that entire No. 24 team.

You have to admit — the whole night was crazy. We had the big one at Richmond. How many times have we ever said that? The big one normally is at Talladega or Daytona. You had heartbreak with Denny Hamlin and Dale Jr. plus you had incredible drama. The last few weeks I think are just a product of good, close, hard racing right now.

We are headed to Darlington with a new surface and the cars are going to be super fast. That's going to cause some guys to be a little edgy and then the following week you have the All Star race. So these next few weeks, everyone is going to have to take a chill pill and try to keep themselves under control. There is going to be a lot of action, emotion and high drama and NASCAR is going to have their hands full keeping everyone under control.

Oh, by the way II

Speaking of under control — I felt bad for my brother Saturday night. Michael was having a halfway decent night. Unfortunately during one of the laps he came off the high side and Casey Mears didn't know he was there and they got together. Then you saw what happened after that and then NASCAR parked Michael for the rest of the night. I feel bad for Michael because it was an unfortunate situation for both those guys.